Wesleyan University To Force Fraternities To Admit Women

Wesleyan Greek life has taken another big hit. You might recall that the school’s chapter of Beta Theta Pi was suspended by its national organization last month when a student was injured after falling from the house’s third floor window. Today, the university made an announcement saying all fraternities “must become co-ed within three years, submit to additional oversight and eliminate freshman ‘rushing’ activities or students will no longer be allowed to reside there.”

Kate Carlisle, a spokesperson for the university, claimed, “This has been under discussion for a long time, probably for a number of years. It’s not really in reaction or prompted by any incidents or recent events, but really more it’s part of the progression toward making sure that our campus reflects our value of gender equality.”

It always sucks to hear that a fraternity system is being effectively disallowed, but in the case of Wesleyan, it’s probably been a long time coming. The Beta chapter in particular has had a contentious relationship with the university for the better part of a decade. The fraternity has had an on and off housing dispute with the administration, and the chapter hasn’t been an officially recognized campus organization since 2005. Beta was also the location of a widely covered 2010 sexual assault that came on the heels of the university itself sending a student-wide email advising students to avoid the house, which had apparently come to be known as “The Rape Factory.” The non-member suspect was found guilty and sentenced to 15 months in prison. A lawsuit stemming from that incident was settled out of court earlier this year.

The lesson, as always, is to keep your head down and don’t do anything stupid, because universities are always looking for reasons to neuter their fraternities. Also don’t rape people, because no shit.

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Sterling Cooper is a contributing writer for Total Frat Move and Post Grad Problems. He has never understood why people like sand, and has been in a bitter ten year rivalry with Muggsy Bogues, for reasons neither of them choose to reveal.

Not sure, but I doubt they will allow men to join sororities. Seems like the logical completion of this batshit crazy kind of thinking, but the liberal mind has many double standards and ironies yet to be explained by science.

This is what happens when GDIs grow up and become college administrators. Why do we sit back and take this shit? Fight back with our alumni. Our chapters seem like they hide and hope nothing comes their way. When a chapter gets skunked by the admin, its brother chapters should stand up for them instead of “sucks to be them”.

this is ridiculous. what’s the point then? there’s a reason there is a group for men and a group for women. you can’t force an organization to change their national landmarks, rituals, codes etc. just to promote “gender equality”. there are plenty of co-ed (NF) fraternities that already exist whose landmarks state that they are founded on the principle of being co-ed. just put those organizations on your campus so that those who wanna be in an environment that accepts both can do so. so simple.

In all seriousness, this is really fucked up. No IFC chapter should be forced to accept women as members and no Panhellenic sorority should be forced to admit men. I hope any national fraternity disaffiliates chapters that go along with this.

Title IX of the United States Education Amendments of 1972, Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235. ” No person can be denied participation in an education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance on the basis of sex, there are exceptions. Namely, “This section shall not apply to membership practices…of a social fraternity or social sorority which is exempt from taxation…the active membership of which consists primarily of students in attendance at an institution of higher learned.”

Why don’t they just not bid girls? They allow fraternities to use their discretion in bidding guys, they can just say that they thought Amy or Annie or Abby didn’t fit in. They can also just bid one smokeshow and move on.

I guess almost all of the greek organizations but two are actually off campus, and therefore will not be subject to this incredibly stupid rule. The only ones that will be effected are Delta Kappa Epsilon and Psi Upsilon, they can move their organization’s off campus and not be subject to the rule but if they continue to call their current houses home, they will have to just not initiate new members and fade out. Letting any people who would rush with that new rule in place into the fraternity and teaching them our secrets would be absolutely preposterous and humiliating to our way of life.